In years past, there were two different types of web programmers: the organized ones and the sloppy ones.

We're not talking about their desk, cubical, or car; no, in fact we're talking about their techniques in writing programming code.

The organized programmer would make sure all their HTML code was properly organized (we call it nested) and easy to read. Being organized always takes more time, but it saves time in the future when you need to edit code.

The sloppy programmer would slap together HTML code without any regard for organization. Many times they would also write bad or broken code that would not display properly in all web browsers. Debugging sloppy code is always a nightmare.

Luckily programs like Dreamweaver can take sloppy code and automatically organize it into something easily understood.

Now let's talk about a content management system, or CMS for short. As the expressions goes, "To err is human, but to really foul something up you need a computer."

The CMS will sometimes process 20,000 lines of code in order to create a 1000 line HTML file (a web page). As it grinds through those lines of code, a lot of blank lines and spaces are sent to the web browser. All these extra lines and spaces don't harm your website, or the process that Google uses to read your page.

However, all this extra space and lines help to contribute to unnecessary file size. We call it "code bloat." Although the blank space does not prevent Google from reading your page, the code bloat will slow down your website a little bit.

Since Google measures the speed of your website, it's a good idea to examine if your website has code bloat and ask your web programmer to remove it.

Page speed is a minor ranking factor for Google, but every little bit counts and it adds up.

"...articles are easy to follow and seem to have information one can use right away."-Ann, Gallery 4, Hamden CT

"...serious kudos to you. We love your straight talk, pertinent information and plain language. I don't know how many industries have something of jWAG's caliber available, but I learn from the emails every day. Really, really nice work, and very appreciated."-Cheryl Herrick, Global Pathways Jewelry